Method and system for effective adaptive bitrate streaming

Abstract

A video playback method executed in a computer system includes measuring a bitrate in transport stream (TS) file units, and selecting the image quality of the next TS file in consideration of the bitrate and the amount of buffer that has already been loaded.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A video playback method implemented by a computer system having at least one processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions included in a memory, the video playback method comprising:
 measuring, by the at least one processor, a bitrate based on a transport stream (TS) file unit; and 
 selecting, by the at least one processor, image quality of a next TS file in consideration of the bitrate and a buffer amount already loaded, 
 wherein the measuring of the bitrate includes 
 converting a size of a loaded TS file to a weight value and pushing the loaded TS file to a queue in chronological order; and 
 sorting data in the queue based on the weight value and then determining a median value as a current bitrate. 
 
     
     
       2. The video playback method of  claim 1 , wherein the measuring of the bitrate comprises measuring the bitrate every time loading of the TS file is completed. 
     
     
       3. The video playback method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the image quality of the next TS file comprises;
 determining that the selected image quality is higher image quality than a current image quality and determining that the buffer amount meets a minimum standard for changing image quality in consideration of bitrates of the current image quality and the selected image quality, and in response, changing the current image quality with the higher image quality. 
 
     
     
       4. The video playback method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the image quality of the next TS file comprise, determining that the selected image quality is lower image quality than a current image quality and determining that the buffer amount is less than a buffer threshold value of the selected image quality, and in response, changing the current image quality with the lower image quality. 
     
     
       5. The video playback method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the image quality of the next TS file comprises modifying an index indicating an order of download to download with the selected image quality from a next TS file thereof and not from a TS file loaded at a last location. 
     
     
       6. The video playback method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the image quality of the next TS file comprises:
 determining that the selected image quality is higher image quality than a current image quality, and adjusting the loaded buffer amount to advance load a TS file with the higher image quality. 
 
     
     
       7. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the video playback method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
       8. The video playback method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the image quality of the next TS file comprises:
 determining that the selected image quality is lower image quality than a current image quality, and loading a TS file with the lower image quality at a point in time after consuming all the loaded buffer amount. 
 
     
     
       9. The video playback method of  claim 1 , wherein the weight value of the loaded TS file is obtained by applying a square root of the file size of the loaded TS file. 
     
     
       10. A computer system comprising:
 at least one processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory, 
 wherein the at least one processor comprises: 
 a bitrate measurer configured to measure a bitrate based on a transport stream (TS) file unit; and 
 a video player configured to select image quality of a next TS file in consideration of the bitrate and a buffer amount already loaded, 
 wherein the bitrate measurer measures the bitrate by converting a size of a loaded TS file to a weight value and pushing the loaded TS file to a queue in chronological order, and sorting data in the queue based on the weight value and then determining a median value as a current bitrate. 
 
     
     
       11. The computer system of  claim 10 , wherein the bitrate measurer is configured to measure the bitrate every time a loading of the TS file is completed. 
     
     
       12. The computer system of  claim 7 , wherein the video player is configured to, when the selected image quality is higher image quality than current image quality, change the current image quality with the higher image quality if the buffer amount meets a minimum standard for changing the image quality in consideration of bitrates of the current image quality and the selected image quality. 
     
     
       13. The computer system of  claim 10 , wherein the video player is configured to, when the selected image quality is lower image quality than current image quality, change the current image quality with the lower image quality if the buffer amount is less than a buffer threshold value of the selected image quality. 
     
     
       14. The computer system of  claim 10 , wherein the video player is configured to modify an index indicating an order of download to download with the selected image quality from a next TS file thereof and not from a TS file loaded at a last location. 
     
     
       15. The computer system of  claim 7 , wherein the video player is configured to, when the selected image quality is higher image quality than current image quality, adjust the loaded buffer amount to advance load a TS file with the higher image quality, and to, when the selected image quality is lower image quality than the current image quality, load a TS file with the lower image quality at a point in time after consuming all the loaded buffer amount.